Holidays are when the whole family can have some fun and it always helps to keep the children busy. Tourism Update looks into 10 programmes tailored especially for children of all ages
Gondwana Junior Rangers Programme
The Gondwana Big Five Game Reserve in Mossel Bay allows children aged six and older to be game rangers with its Junior Rangers programme. Children will receive a fun ranger’s backpack and safari booklet to fill in throughout their stay.
During game drives and other safari activities with a ranger, children will be taught how to identify mammals, birds, Fynbos species, and even stars. They will gain an understanding of conservation and eco systems and will be quizzed on what they’ve learnt. They then receive a level 1 Junior Ranger patch and certificate, as well as a picture with their ranger for their safari book.
Kapama conservation activities
Kapama Southern Camp in the Kruger National Park offers conservation-themed activities for all children. The activities are designed to stimulate young minds. The ‘bug patrol’ introduces children to the world of insects or the ‘tracks and tracking’ walk teaches them about the animals they see on game drives.
The camp offers luxury family suites that are designed for families seeking the ultimate safari getaway. The second bedroom, ideal for children or extended families, has its own mini bar fridge, stocked with snacks and fruit juice, and a Nintendo Wii station complete with a variety of games for kids of all ages.
Kapama’s Karula Camp in Hoedspruit, Limpopo, offers a similar itinerary designed specifically for families. Karula’s children’s programme includes making paper from elephant dung and learning about the importance of dung beetles. Children will also learn how to make cupcakes and pizza during a session with Karula’s kitchen team, with a fun pizza competition held afterwards.
Premier Hotel kids’ play area
Premier Hotels and Resorts Group has launched a children’s outdoor play area, The Moorings, at Premier Hotel Knysna.
The large play area caters for children up to seven years old and offers swing sets, a giant chess set and a ship-themed jungle gym. Picnic tables have been set up next to the play area so parents can let their kids play while enjoying some drinks and lunch.
Premier Hotel Knysna also offers family waterfront villas on the private channel of the lagoon. The family suites can accommodate up to five people, with two bedrooms and en-suite bathrooms upstairs and a sleeper couch downstairs.
“With the Group’s strong service-orientated approach, we recognise the need to cater for all and continue innovating and leading. We have therefore geared various hotel properties to be family friendly, including Premier Hotel Knysna,” says Samuel Nassimov, Managing Director of Premier Hotels & Resorts Group.
Adventure in the Western Cape
The zip-line at the Piekenierskloof Mountain Resort on the Cape West Coast is a unique two-hour experience and a fun activity for the whole family. The zip-line can carry a maximum weight of 110kg and children must be five years and older.
Another great experience is the Cape Canopy Tour in the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve near Grabouw in the Western Cape. Children can slide along steel cables, bouncing from platform to platform while going past waterfalls and through valleys, enjoying spectacular views.
Children can also experience camel rides, donkey cart rides, a foefie slide, bumper boats and feeding animals at the Wilgewandel Farm near Oudtshoorn, or enjoy a 3-D maze, forest puzzle walk and rope maze at Plett Puzzle Park in Plettenberg Bay.
Judy Lain, Chief Marketing Officer at Wesgro, said: “With natural scenic beauty, diverse culture and a vast array of adventure activities found throughout the province, Cape Town and the Western Cape is the ideal place to discover for the entire family.”
Snorkelling and diving at Rani Resorts
The Anantara Bazaruto Island Resort & Spa in Mozambique is an ideal destination for a family holiday.
Children aged eight and older can learn to snorkel and how to dive with the Bubble Blower dive course. They can go dune boarding, horseback riding and can enjoy motorised or non-motorised watersports. Dads and sons can experience big-game fishing while moms and daughters can be pampered at the Anantara Spa.
The resort offers two interleading Beach Villas for families with younger children, while the Deluxe Sea View Pool Villas, comprising two bedrooms, are perfect for bigger families.
Maropeng’s Visitor Centre
Maropeng’s Visitor Centre, near the Sterkfontein Caves in Gauteng, aims to entertain and educate children on evolution, diversity, sustainability and the unique characteristics of being human.
The tour of the centre begins with a boat ride, where children are taken back in time through the four elements – earth, air, fire and water. They then walk across a bridge that goes through the centre of a turning tunnel. The colours and motion of the tunnel create a vortex effect that imitates a return back in time to when the world was being created. Once children go through the ‘vortex’, they arrive at a hologram globe. The globe displays the earth as it was at the beginning of time: the continents are all attached and then slowly split apart, showing the continental drift.
At the interactive zone they can use their senses to understand the science relating to the study of evolution, the formation of fossils, DNA and life on Earth.
The tour ends at the original fossil display, which includes some of the rarest fossils found in the Cradle of Humankind region.
Lindsay Marshall, Acting General Manager at Maropeng, says a visit to Maropeng is a must for all children. “The children who visit the Centre walk away with a richer understanding of our past. They really get involved in the interactive displays and ask the most interesting questions.”
Vulture Culture Experience
The Victoria Falls Safari Lodge and Africa Albida Tourism offer a unique experience for children: the revamped daily Vulture Culture Experience.
The new experience, beginning in mid-July, starts with a briefing on the ecological importance of vultures and the plight they are facing. The briefing will be held on the newly built wooden deck, beneath the Safari Lodge. Information will be displayed, outlining the challenges vultures are experiencing, interesting facts, conservation efforts under way and an opportunity to donate to assist conservation efforts.
Children can then watch hundreds of vultures swoop down for a 13h00 feeding. The birds are fed leftover meat scraps and bones from the on-site restaurants in a supplementary feeding programme that aids in the survival of the species.
They will see White-headed vultures, Hooded vultures, Lappet-faced vultures, White-backed vultures, as well as Marabou storks and Tawny eagles.
The Vulture Culture Experience is just one of many activities to entertain children in Victoria Falls, with others including a Canopy Tour through the forests of the Batoka Gorge, a nature walk, bird hide and a night of entertainment at The Boma – Place of Eating.
Lemala Cubs Club
The Lemala Camps in Tanzania give children the opportunity to explore and learn about wildlife and conservation through the Lemala Cubs Club. There are a range of activities, such as blunt spear throwing, learning to use a bow and arrow with the Maasai, tracking around the camp with the resident guides, listening to traditional fables under the Acacia tree and helping the chefs prepare meals.
The Lemala Cubs Club activities programme is effective from July 1.
Ant’s Nest & Ant’s Hill
Ant’s Nest and Ant’s Hill, in the Waterberg region in Limpopo, offers unique activities for children of all ages on family holidays. Children can participate in specialised ‘bug’ and ‘spoor’ walks and learn about their natural surroundings. Children can also join their parents on game drives and pony rides.
Both lodges have various kid-friendly facilities such as a heated swimming pool, a trampoline, sand pits, badminton and volley ball nets and a wide selection of toys and books.
Legend Lodges ‘Little Legends’
Legend Hospitality Group offers unique activity programmes for children, aged four to 12. The programmes are structured to entertain and educate children about nature and their surroundings.
The Little Legends Conservation Programme and Sport and Adventure Programme are offered at Legend Golf & Safari Resort and Entabeni Safari Conservancy, in Limpopo.
The Conservation Programme is an interactive activity that teaches children about animals and nature in unique surroundings. Children will learn about reptiles and rare predators, while animal tracking and first aid are also taught. A picnic in the bush is also included as part of the programme.
The Sport and Adventure Programme encourages children to participate in different outdoor adventure and sport activities. They can experience their own game drives within a safe environment and will also visit the Legend Wildlife & Cultural Centre, where they can see White lions, Bengal tigers, buffalos and reptiles.
Each programme is tailored to the specific property, giving children a unique experience each time.
